John B. Latimer was born in White County, Ill., May 12, 1832.  He is a son of Benjamin A. Latimer, for several years a County Commissioner of White County.  he was a life-long member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, of which he was an Elder several years, and was sent several times to represent his society in the General Assembly.  Mr. Latimer’s grandfather was one the minute-men from Connecticut.  He served as Orderly under his father, Colonel Latimer, in many important engagements of the Revolution.  He was the Orderly who was sent to New London, Conn., to inform the minute-men of the approach of the British.  He was wounded in the thigh, which prevented further active service.  He was afterward engaged in a severe personal combat with a Tory alone in the woods, whom he captured after receiving a severe wound in the hand by a broadsword.  Mr. Latimer’s great grandfather came from England about the middle of the last century.  He traces his genealogy direct from Bishop Latimer, who was martyred during the reign of Queen Elizabeth for his belief in the Protestant religion.  Mr. Latimer’s father came to White County in 1844.  He was married in 1854 to Martha Bryant, of White County.  They have three children.  Mr. Latimer served three years in the late war under Grant, participating in the battles of Fort Donelson and Fort Henry and Shiloh.  He was engaged in farming til 1871, when he moved to Omaha and ran the Latimer House.  He served one year as Justice of the Peace.  He is at present one of the proprietors of the Omaha flouring mills.

Submitted by:  Linda Roberts

From History of White County (IL) Gallatin County – Bear Creek Township (ca 1882-1884), P.  967

Samuel D. Lewis, son of Philip and Hester L. Lewis, was born I Lawrence County, Ill., in 1852.  His grandparents were from England and Scotland, and settles in North Carolina in early colonial times.  His parents moved to Kentucky, and from there in 1815 to Illinois.  His father was one of the pioneers of Eastern Illinois, being one of the earliest settlers of Lawrence County.  Mr. Lewis was educated in the pubic schools.  When twenty-one years of age he commenced the study of telegraphy, at Farmington, Iowa.  His health failing, he returned to the farm and remained two years.  He then went to Texas and taught penmanship in Wilderville, Snowsville and Hampton; then worked on a cotton farm awhile, after which he returned to Lawrenceville, Ill., and continued the study of telegraphy, and also dealt in grain.  May 1, 1876, he took charge of the telegraph office at Omaha, where he still remains.  He is a very faithful agent, attending to all the duties of his office, and has had charge of several mail routes; is also dealing in grain, game, etc.  Jan. 21, 1876, Mr. Lewis married Maggie Lane, of Bridgeport, Ill.  They have three children – Luella Carrie and Pearl, ages, six, four and one.

Submitted by:  Linda Roberts

James S. Lasater, born Feb. 22, 1837, is a son of Absalom and Louisa (Vickers) Lasater, the father a native of Hamilton County, Ill., and the mother of Virginia.  His parents moved to Tennessee after their marriage, and James was born there.  They lived there a year and then returned to Hamilton County.  Their family consisted of five children, James M. being the second.  His father died about the time of the birth of his youngest sister.  When he was thirteen years old he was obliged to take care of himself, and worked several years for $4 a month.  His schooling was necessarily limited, but by self application and observation he acquired a good education.  At the time of the Kansas excitement he went to that Territory, but finding it unprofitable and unsatisfactory he returned to Illinois.  The next two years he traded in chickens in Shawneetown and New Orleans.  At that time the Pike’s Peak gold fever broke out, and he, in company with half a dozen others, started with ox teams for the Peak.  When they reached Fort Kearney they met men coming back, and a few miles further on, more men, there being no gold.  They then retraced their steps and returned to White County.  Mr. Lasater worked the rest of the year in a saw-mill and the next year went to farming in Hamilton County.  He remained there a year, and then moved to White County and remained two years; then moved to Gallatin County where he has since resided.  He is on the county line, so his interests are still with White County.  He married Mrs. Mary (Mills) Boyd, daughter of Charles and Julia (Pierce) Mills.  They have two children – Lucy and Edgar.  He has eighty acres under good cultivation, gained by energy and hard work.

Submitted by:  Linda Roberts

BIOGRAPHY OF ABRAHAM LAND

Abraham Land, JR was born on March 26, 1846 in Gibson County, Indiana, the son of Abraham Land (1781-1844) and Sarah Edwards. Sarah Edwards was the second wife of Abraham, Sr. The family was from Tennessee (originally from South
Carolina) and came to Indiana after 1830 to Gibson County. Abraham, JR, who was a Civil War pensioner, enlisted in the 60th IN, Co B from Poseyville, Indiana, and saw action at Vicksburg, MS, and was taken prisoner of war at the Carrion Crow Creek Battle in LA.

He was discharged in 1865 at Willetts Point, NY. Abe came back to Gibson County and married Mary Grigsby in 1865. In 1867, Abraham and Mary were divorced and hemarried Narcissa Crabtree, daughter of George Washington Crabtree and Achsah Goodwin.

After their marriage, Abraham and Narcissa (she was nicknamed “Sis”) moved to White County, IL, where other Land and Crabtree family members lived. Their first child, Lewis (born in 1867), was born in White County. The family then went to
Cowley County, Kansas, where other Land family members lived. During this sojourn (1868-1882), five children were born. The family came back to White County where the latter four children were born.

Besides farming, Abraham also preached in the Christian Churches in the area. My grandma, Rosa Land Zuber, would play the piano for him during his preaching. Many of Abe’s ten children settled in the White/Wayne County area: Lewis W. Land
(1867-1954) married Mattie Aldridge and settled in Arkansas; James M. Land (1869-1903) married Grace Howard and lived in Illinois; Benjamin Newton Land (1871-1949) married Mary Tilton and Nancy Wilson and lived in Arkansas; William M. Land (1874-aft.1900) married Salina Boswell; Forest Henderson Land (1876-1922) married Clara Logan and lived in Illinois; Lulu V. Land (1880-1957) married Dick Olan Clifford and lived in New Haven, Illinois; Martha Jane (Jennie) Land (1883-1959) married Emanuel Daniels and lived in White County, Illinois, and Washington, Indiana; Rosa Tuck Land (1885-1958) married Louis Zuber and lived in White and Wayne Counties, Illinois; Amanda Ellen Land (1887-1962) married James Singletary and lived in Mississippi; and Mary F. Land (1894-1914) married Jesse Gray and lived in White County.

My grandparents, Rosa Land and Louis Zuber, were married in 1904 and lived in White County close to the Crabtree farm where their three children were born: Norman (1907-1907); James Abraham; and Lena. Louis taught school in White County and then worked in the postoffice in Fairfield. James was my father, served in WWII and carried mail in Evansville, Indiana. Narcissa died in 1916 and was buried in Victory Cemetery in Wayne County. Abraham then married Olie Brown in 1917 and lived in Wayne County. Abraham died in 1932 and was buried beside Narcissa.

Here is the text of a biography from an unidentified newspaper:

The Life of Samuel Lamont

This interview was taken in 1875 in White County, Ill., by a newspaper reporter. Samuel Lamont was born near Bally Money, Antrim County, Ireland in 1827. His parents were Samuel and Nancy Gammell Lamont. They had a family of fourteen sons and one daughter. Samuel was the fourth son.

He came with his cousin John Lamont to America [in] 1851. They were eleven weeks and three days at sea in a sailing vessel. They landed in New Orleans, then came up the Mississippi to Mt. Vernon, Ind., then to Grayville Ill., and on to Liberty in Burnt Prairie Township. [He] worked six weeks for Dr. Samuel Stewart for board, worked for different
parties in Burnt Prairie Township.

Samuel Lamont is a self-made man. He came to America a poor Irish boy and when he landed in Liberty, White County, Ill. had 12 and a half cents in his pocket. He was not discouraged but went bravely to work and by hard work and good management has in five years accumulated as fine a farm as there is in  the county.

March 6, 1856 [he] married Mary Williams, Daughter of John Williams and Katherine Hunsinger. After his marriage [he] settled on his farm near Liberty, Burnt Prairies Township, White County, Ill., where he resided until 1859. He moved to Burnt Prairie Ill. on a farm on Section 30 where he remained until 1875. He owns 160 acres of land in Burnt Prairie Township and 40 acres in Gray Township.

Mr. Lamont and his wife are members of the old regular Baptist Church. They have six living children:

John T. (Thompson) Born Dec. 10, 1856 Married Sara Files 1877
John T. and his wife reside in Gray Township
Jacob Lamont Born Dec. 11, 1859
Jack Lamont Born August 27, 1864
Katherine Lamont Born May 27, 1868
George Lamont Born August 1870
Mary E. Lamont Born 1874
All resided at home until marriage.

Mr. Lamont is a Democrat. [He] cast his first vote for James Buchanan.
These facts are on file at White County.

Written and filed in 1875 on outstanding citizens of that date.

Susan Hood
Hartford, CT
email: jrbhartford@mac.com

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